I know I have been very absent in the blogging world but I was having a little difficulty logging into my account. So much has been going on. We dropped Tyler off to the MTC on June 6th and spent the day with him. That was the hardest thing ever. It was one of those moments when I was second guessing myself for wanting him to go on a mission. I am so happy that he is there. The other choice he was going to make would have been a lot more difficult to handle and the consequences would have been much harder for me to see. Hailey turned 14 and got herself a little gun from Grandpa. Dad and I were going to get her one but Grandpa really wanted to give one. That is kinda his THING.

just some images of what we have been up to

Creative Mind

It doesn't just take creativity but also much independence. This is Elli filling her water bottle. She puts the bottle on the head, props the bottle up against the spout and holds the button with her hand. Very fun to watch. Can't believe she is four and off to school in less than a year. Wow how time flies.

We have both been feeling a little under the weather but she has gotten over her flue bug but my sinuses have kept me up for about six nights in a row. I have no ideas left on what to do to make this go AWAY!!!!!!!

Fall Break

Now all the outside garden has been harvested
so I am crossing
my fingers I will get more
out of the greenhouse.
We have gotten quite a bit
of snow the last few days.
The girls have loved it.
Riding the little four wheeler
and making snow forts.
Even the dog has gotten a little
excited and had to sit in the
house because he was jumping and
chewing on Elli.
Time OUT for Ozzy

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Garden Is Harvested

The weather is getting colder and I know that the garden is showing signs of frost so it all came in yesterday.

The squash,turnips,tomatos,onions, basil and Kohlrabi are all in. Now I will straw the garden and get it ready to till for next spring. I feel so gratified when I see it all sitting in buckets and baskets, knowing the hard work paid off.

Fall work

I have been so grateful for all the beautiful days we have been enjoying. I do realize that all good things must come to an end. There is snow in this weeks forecast so the garden will be harvested completely today. I Canned dill pickles and got another batch of bread and butter pickles ready for tomorrow. I was not planning to do another batch but the pickles were a little big for dill pickles. they are exteremly hard to pack into the jars if they are too big so more bread and butter pickles to come. I don't know how much more I will be getting out of the greenhouse. When I check in the mornings, the temperature is sometimes down to the high forties. Not the ideal situation for tomatoes to ripen. But I will harvest until mother nature puts a hault to it's production.

Chickens are very happy little cluckers.....about 20 eggs a day. Needless to say we are giving eggs away and using eggs just about any way you can think of. It feels good to be almost self sufficient. No milk cow though. I will NOT milk a cow!


Friday morning I got a very somber phone call from my Mom. My Step Grandma passed away and her viewing would be that evening. Jared and I had already planned a weekend get-away but didn't really plan to go to Pocatello. Jared was a trooper and we hopped on the bike and went to the viewing. I had mixed emotions about going. Things were not always good between my aunts and uncles when it concerned my Grandma Vida, but I knew that she loved me and she was the only Grandma I have known. I was even planning a trip to visit her in the nursing home while my kids were home for fall break. The situation was very strange to me. Her family is not close and so there was no funeral, just a viewing and a graveside dedication where she was being burried. I know I don't want anything extravagant but at least a few words for those who are there. i was very touched by a few little love notes that were on display for the viewing. Sweet notes from my Grandpa just because. I come from good roots and I am very grateful for that. He was lucky to be in love with two great ladies. Both very different but he had plenty of love for the both of them.

September Morning

How amazing is that. This is the view I get to wake up to every morning. Beautiful fields and majestic mountains.

Not surprising that our kids love this place too. We have been planning a trip over fall break to go to Glacier Park. When our kids have the choice to go to Glacier or to stay around here and camp and ride horses, they choose to stay and enjoy our own back yard view. It is truly a magical place to live.

More canning

One of my memories of canning with my Mom is making cinnamon pickles,

never knowing how much hard work really went into them. They are about a 5 day process and take up a lot of room in the kitchen for that amount of time too.

They are well worth the effort and the much needed space in the kitchen.

I have also finished another batch of bread and butter pickles and a few more jars of dill pickles.

I sometimes think that time is just flying by. Kody is getting his drivers license and will now be able to do some of the running. It will be very nice to have a little more time to get things done. If I make a trip to town it seems like the day is half over and I don't feel like starting projects half way through the day. It will be stressfull but convienient at the same time.

The new business is doing well and Jared has a few chinking jobs that should keep him busy for a while. I know we are extrememly blessed to have work and be financially free. Makes the stress level somewhat bearable. I am very gratefull for a husband who gets his hands dirty and provides for his family.

More Summer pics

We have spent a lot of time with Hailey at Volleyball. The season only lasted about 5 weeks but it was a lot of fun watching these girls.

The first day of school pic, of course.

This year the flowers have been beautiful. I still have some bed that are in need of some plants but I will seed them this fall and see what I come up with for next year.

I know this will not last long the leaves on the squash plants all got frosted last night.

This weeks project is cinnamon pickles and the craft room/exercise room/office. Sound like a big project. Believe me....it is HUGE!

Summer gardening

I am loving the great experience I have had gardening this year. I have canned beets and pickled, stewed and italian stewed tomatoes, hot and mild salsa, bread and butter, dill pickles, raspberry jam, pepper jelly, and relish. Still need to do green beans, cinnamon pickles and dill pickles but I am enjoying seeing all the pretty bottles of food going into the storage room.
Here is what the green house is looking like these days. I still have tomatoes that are rippening and the pickles are growing huge, for cinnamon pickles, and then some for dill pickles. The basil is ready to pick again to make pesto. The okra I am not sure what to do with but the flowers are pretty amazing. I am hoping to get enough peppers still to can some jalepenos and some chilis and possible make another couple of batches of salsa. The celery is turning out better than I expected. I asked around on the technique on how to grow celery and from what I understand people just don't grow it. I will be storing it in the dark storage room over the winter and hoping it will continue to grow next year.

The lady bugs have been a huge help this year. I had a pretty obnoxious aphid problem and brought in 5000 lady bugs. Problem solved! They have migrated outside and around the neighborhood but with so many of them around, when I see aphids on anything I pick up a handful of my little helpers and the problem is taken care of. The pepper plants and the brussel sprouts were the worst. I have learned a lot but feel like this years harvest is quite successful.

All in all I have no doubt in my mind everyone around this area needs a green house. Mine has made a huge difference. Never have I canned this much in one year. Hopefully more canning to come still. There are also a few things I won't be planting in the green house next year. #1 no zucchinni, melons or squash. they take over and have to be trimmed every couple of days just so they don't smother out other plants #2 I will start my corn in the green house but then I will transplant it outside. It is too hard for a shorty like me to polinate the plants so often and the corn dust was very harsh on the alergies.

Woops!

I sure have been a slacker at posting. I have loved all the warm weather we have enjoyed this summer. The green house has made a huge difference in the amount of food I have been able to can, compared to years in the past. We have played and worked hard. Here are a few pics to tell a little about what we have been up to.

Here are a few pictures of our Danielle, the cat and OZZY the pup. This was something Jared caught a glimps of while we were getting kids off to school this morning.

They were so cute. It looked like Danielle was giving Ozzy a massage as she was gently clawing at his back. He laid there like there was not a care in the world. They have a strange relationship. We have seen Ozzy carry Danielle in his mouth like she had hunted her down, carrying her off like a won prize. Isn't farm life exciting.

Today the older chickens go the boot from the chicken coop. they have stopped laying eggs so the got replaced by the cute little babies.

Growing flowers in the house

I have been feeling like getting my fingers in the dirt for a while and these are some of the pretties that I planted about a month ago. YES! They are in my living room waiting to be moved outside when the weather is a little less out of control.